> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Few hate crimes are reported
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/few-hate-crimes-are-reported/
- Published: 2007-06-08T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T01:00:09.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Crime, Downtown, #archive-import

*Santa Monica-area avoids such attacks*

DOWNTOWN Later, haters.

There were only two hate crimes reported in Santa Monica in 2006 — one assault and one incident of vandalism, according to figures released Thursday by law enforcement as part of an annual review by the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations.

The local numbers mirror a downward trend across the county.

The Santa Monica Police Department reported seven hate crimes earlier this year, but after further review, modified five because they did not fit the criteria of a hate crime, said SMPD Lt. Alex Padilla.

The commission’s report does not reflect the recent changes. “(Hate crimes have) not been an issue for the department or the community,” Padilla said. “As far as I can recall, in the last few years, we haven’t seen an inordinate amount of hate crimes. That’s just not the case here.”

That seems to be the case for other cities as well.

In LA County, there were 514 cases involving 594 victims and 882 suspects, a 6-percent decrease in hate crimes from the year before and the second-lowest number since 1991, according to the commission’s report. Hate crime charges are filed when there is evidence that bias, hatred or prejudice based on the victim’s real or perceived race/ethnic-ity, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation is a substantial factor in the commission of the offense.

“Often, derogatory words or epithets are directed against a member of a protected class, but no violence is threatened and there is no apparent ability to harm the target,”the report states. “Such hate incidents are important indicators of intergroup tensions, They are not, however, criminal offenses.”

That same standard applies to graffiti as well.

In the Westside region, which includes Beverly Hills, Culver City, Santa Monica, Malibu,Venice,West Hollywood and West Los Angeles, there were 50 reported hate crimes, or roughly 8.7 crimes per 100,000 residents.

The region with the lowest number of hate crimes reported was the South Bay, which includes the cities of El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Rolling Hills and Torrance. The region reported only 12 hate crimes, or 3.3 crimes per 100,000 residents. The Southeast County cities, including Artesia, Bell Gardens, Maywood and Whittier, came in second with 17 hate crimes reported.

Victims were most frequently targeted because of their race, ethnicity or national origin (405 crimes). Anti-African American crimes dominated (59 percent), followed by those targeting Latinos (22 percent), Asians (7 percent), whites (4 percent), Armenians (4 percent) and Middle Easterners (3 percent).

The majority of the crimes occurred in a public place, followed by a private residence, schools and businesses.

Most of the crimes — 189 — were vandalism, followed by assault with intent to cause great bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats, attempted murder and annoying phone calls. Jews were targeted the most when it came to religious hat crimes.

In Santa Monica, the two hate crimes reported were an assault in which the victim was targeted because of their sexuality, and an incident of anti-Semitic graffiti.

Officials recognize that there may have been more incidents, but victims may have been afraid to report them or perhaps are not aware of the law.

County officials said tensions between African Americans and Latinos continue to rise, particularly amongst gang members, who were responsible for two hate-motivated murders and 13 attempted murders. Last year, there were no hate-motivated murders and six attempted murders.

As for Santa Monica’s low number of crimes, city and school officials pointed to the many events and programs sponsored by City Hall and the school district that celebrate the diversity and rich cultural history of the city, from the Santa Monica Festival and Dr. Martin Luther King celebration, to curriculum developed for freshman at Santa Monica High School to teach tolerance.

The city is also home to people who are more educated and more affluent than most areas in the county, two factors which contribute to lower crime rates.

“The city’s commitment to Martin Luther King celebrations, the Santa Monica Festival and Cinco de Mayo goes way back,” said Barbara Stinchfield, director of community and cultural services for City Hall. “I don’t even know when that started.It’s just been part of the DNA of the community to honor that.”

At Samohi, where there were incidents of racial tension two years ago, school officials instituted a new program for freshman developed by Facing History and Ourselves, which forces students of all backgrounds to examine race, prejudice, and anti-Semitism by studying events in history like the Holocaust. Students said the course has impacted them greatly, teaching them tolerance.

The school board also implemented a 10-point plan to ease tension at the campus, something which has shown remarkable results, said Oscar de la Torre, vice president of the school president.

“We’ve seen more peace on campus than ever before and I would say that it had a lot to do with the school board and the various interventions offered by non-profit organizations,” de la Torre said.

Even still, de la Torre, a vocal critic of City Hall who has complained about what he sees is a lack of concern about social inequality amongst elected officials and the public at large, said more community discussions need to take place about gang violence, poverty, race and class.

“People feel more comfortable talking about saving the whales and less comfortable about saving black and Latino youth,” de la Torre said.“That right there is an example of the types of challenges that we face in this city in discussing these issues.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/060807-04_01.jpg)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 8, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/060807.pdf?ref=smdp.com)